PUCCH transmit diversity with one-symbol STBC

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the disclosure relate to wireless communication systems configured to provide techniques for utilizing a one-symbol space-time block code (STBC) process to encode control information for transmission on an uplink control channel. The one-symbol STBC process produces two code blocks, each for transmission on a different antenna. Each code block may be time domain spread across multiple single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) uplink control channel symbols using the same spreading code to enable recovery of the code blocks at the receiver.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present Application for Patent is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/849,585 filed in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice on Dec. 20, 2017, the entire content of which is incorporatedherein by reference as if fully set forth below in its entirety and forall applicable purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/849,585claims priority to and the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No.62/438,364 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 22,2016, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference asif fully set forth below in its entirety and for all applicablepurposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed below relates generally to wirelesscommunication systems, and more particularly, to transmit diversity of aphysical uplink control channel.

INTRODUCTION

In a fourth-generation (4G) wireless communication network that followsstandards for an evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN,also commonly known as LTE), over-the-air transmissions of informationare assigned to various physical channels or signals. Very generally,these physical channels or signals carry user data traffic and controlinformation. For example, a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) isthe main user data traffic-bearing downlink channel, while the PhysicalUplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is the main user data traffic-bearinguplink channel. A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carriesdownlink control information (DCI) providing downlink assignments and/oruplink grants of time-frequency resources to a user equipment (UE) or agroup of UEs. A Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) carries uplinkcontrol information including acknowledgement information, channelquality information, scheduling requests, andmultiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) feedback information.

Downlink and/or uplink communications between the base station andmultiple UEs may further be multiplexed in time and/or frequencyutilizing various multiplexing and multiple access schemes. Examples ofmultiple access schemes include, but are not limited to, time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spreadmultiple access (RSMA), single-carrier frequency division multipleaccess (SC-FDMA), which may be equivalent to discrete Fourier transformspread orthogonal frequency division multiple access (DFT-s-OFDMA), orother suitable multiple access schemes.

In fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks, such as theNew Radio (NR) wireless communication network, SC-FDMA (which may beequivalent to DFT-s-OFDMA) may be utilized for uplink communications onthe PUCCH. Efficient techniques for achieving transmit diversity mayimprove channel conditions when employing the use of a single carrierwaveform for the PUCCH on the uplink.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the presentdisclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects.This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated featuresof the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or criticalelements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope ofany or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Various aspects of the disclosure provide techniques for utilizing aone-symbol space-time block code (STBC) process to encode controlinformation for transmission on an uplink control channel. Theone-symbol STBC process produces two code blocks, each for transmissionon a different antenna. Each code block may be time domain spread acrossmultiple single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA)uplink control channel symbols using the same spreading code to enablerecovery of the code blocks at the receiver.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a scheduling entity within a wirelesscommunication network is provided. The scheduling entity includes aprocessor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, and atransceiver communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive an uplink signal including an uplink controlchannel, where the uplink control channel includes a plurality of uplinkcontrol information, each transmitted by one of a set of scheduledentities, and each of the uplink control information includes aplurality of single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA)symbols. The processor is further configured to time domain de-spreadthe plurality of SC-FDMA symbols to produce a plurality of code blocks,and identifying, from the plurality of code blocks, a first code blockand a second code block that each include a same spreading code. Theprocessor is further configured to apply space-time block decoding overthe first code block and the second code block to produce a firstinformation block including a first set of modulated control symbols anda first cyclic affix appended to the first set of modulated controlsymbols and a second information block including a second set modulatedcontrol symbols and a second cyclic affix appended to the second set ofmodulated control symbols. The processor is further configured todemodulate the first set of modulated control symbols and the second setof modulated control symbols to produce a plurality of control data.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a scheduling entity within awireless communication network. The scheduling entity includes means forreceiving an uplink signal including an uplink control channel, wherethe uplink control channel includes a plurality of uplink controlinformation, each transmitted by one of a set of scheduled entities, andeach of the uplink control information includes a plurality ofsingle-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols. Thescheduling entity further includes means for time domain de-spreadingthe plurality of SC-FDMA symbols to produce a plurality of code blocks,and identifying, from the plurality of code blocks, a first code blockand a second code block that each include a same spreading code. Thescheduling entity further includes means for applying space-time blockdecoding over the first code block and the second code block to producea first information block including a first set of modulated controlsymbols and a first cyclic affix appended to the first set of modulatedcontrol symbols and a second information block including a second setmodulated control symbols and a second cyclic affix appended to thesecond set of modulated control symbols. The scheduling entity furtherincludes means for demodulating the first set of modulated controlsymbols and the second set of modulated control symbols to produce aplurality of control data.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable code that includescode for causing a scheduling entity to receive an uplink signalincluding an uplink control channel, where the uplink control channelincludes a plurality of uplink control information, each transmitted byone of a set of scheduled entities, and each of the uplink controlinformation includes a plurality of single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the scheduling entity to timedomain de-spread the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols to produce a pluralityof code blocks, and identifying, from the plurality of code blocks, afirst code block and a second code block that each include a samespreading code. The non-transitory computer-readable medium furtherincludes code for causing the scheduling entity to apply space-timeblock decoding over the first code block and the second code block toproduce a first information block including a first set of modulatedcontrol symbols and a first cyclic affix appended to the first set ofmodulated control symbols and a second information block including asecond set modulated control symbols and a second cyclic affix appendedto the second set of modulated control symbols. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing thescheduling entity to demodulate the first set of modulated controlsymbols and the second set of modulated control symbols to produce aplurality of control data.

These and other aspects of the invention will become more fullyunderstood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows.Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a radio accessnetwork.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of ascheduling entity communicating with one or more scheduled entities.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a comparison of orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and single-carrier frequencydivision multiplexing (SC-FDM) as may be implemented within a radioaccess network.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an SC-FDM system as may be implementedbetween a transmitter and a receiver within a radio access networkaccording to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of space-time block coding(STBC) according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of one-symbol STBC accordingto some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmitter forgenerating SC-FDMA symbols containing uplink control informationutilizing one-symbol STBC according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for a scheduling entity apparatus employing a processingsystem according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for a scheduled entity apparatus employing a processingsystem according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for generatinguplink control information for transmission on an uplink control channelutilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according to some aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary process forgenerating uplink control information for transmission on an uplinkcontrol channel utilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according tosome aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary process forgenerating uplink control information for transmission on an uplinkcontrol channel utilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according tosome aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for receivingand processing a PUCCH including UCI generated using SC-FDMA andone-symbol STBC, according to some aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and components areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may beimplemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures, and communication standards. Referring now to FIG. 1, asan illustrative example without limitation, a schematic illustration ofa radio access network 100 is provided. In some examples, the radioaccess network 100 may be a network employing continued evolved wirelesscommunication technologies. This may include, for example, a fifthgeneration (5G) or New Radio (NR) wireless communication technologybased on a set of standards (e.g., issued by 3GPP, www.3gpp.org). Forexample, standards defined by the 3GPP following LTE-Advanced or by the3GPP2 following CDMA2000 may be considered 5G. Standards may alsoinclude pre-3GPP efforts specified by Verizon Technical Forum and KoreaTelecom SIG.

In other examples, the radio access network 100 may be a networkemploying a third generation (3G) wireless communication technology or afourth generation (4G) wireless communication technology. For example,standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) may be considered3G or 4G, including, but not limited to, Long-Term Evolution (LTE),LTE-Advanced, Evolved Packet System (EPS), and Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS). Additional examples of various radioaccess technologies based on one or more of the above-listed 3GPPstandards include, but are not limited to, Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess (UTRA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (eUTRA),General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data Rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE). Examples of such legacy standards defined by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) include, but are not limitedto, CDMA2000 and Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). Other examples ofstandards employing 3G/4G wireless communication technology include theIEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) standard and other suitable standards.

While aspects and embodiments are described in this application byillustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understandthat additional implementations and use cases may come about in manydifferent arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein maybe implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems,shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and/oruses may come about via integrated chip embodiments and othernon-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles,communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment,retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.).While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use casesor applications, a wide assortment of applicability of describedinnovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum fromchip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-levelimplementations and further to aggregate, distributed, or OEM devices orsystems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations.In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects andfeatures may also necessarily include additional components and featuresfor implementation and practice of claimed and described embodiments.For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarilyincludes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g.,hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers,modulators, buffer, processor(s), interleaver, adders/summers, etc.). Itis intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a widevariety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributedarrangements, end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes andconstitution.

The geographic region covered by the radio access network 100 may bedivided into a number of cellular regions (cells) that can be uniquelyidentified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identificationbroadcasted over a geographical area from one access point or basestation. FIG. 1 illustrates macrocells 102, 104, and 106, and a smallcell 108, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). Asector is a sub-area of a cell. All sectors within one cell are servedby the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identifiedby a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cellthat is divided into sectors, the multiple sectors within a cell can beformed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible forcommunication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

In general, a respective base station (BS) serves each cell. Broadly, abase station is a network element in a radio access network responsiblefor radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from aUE. A BS may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a basetransceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, atransceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set(ESS), an access point (AP), a Node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), a gNode B(gNB) or some other suitable terminology.

In FIG. 1, two base stations 110 and 112 are shown in cells 102 and 104;and a third base station 114 is shown controlling a remote radio head(RRH) 116 in cell 106. That is, a base station can have an integratedantenna or can be connected to an antenna or RRH by feeder cables. Inthe illustrated example, the cells 102, 104, and 106 may be referred toas macrocells, as the base stations 110, 112, and 114 support cellshaving a large size. Further, a base station 118 is shown in the smallcell 108 (e.g., a microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station,home Node B, home eNode B, etc.) which may overlap with one or moremacrocells. In this example, the cell 108 may be referred to as a smallcell, as the base station 118 supports a cell having a relatively smallsize. Cell sizing can be done according to system design as well ascomponent constraints. It is to be understood that the radio accessnetwork 100 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells.Further, a relay node may be deployed to extend the size or coveragearea of a given cell. The base stations 110, 112, 114, 118 providewireless access points to a core network for any number of mobileapparatuses.

FIG. 1 further includes a quadcopter or drone 120, which may beconfigured to function as a base station. That is, in some examples, acell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of thecell may move according to the location of a mobile base station such asthe quadcopter 120.

In general, base stations may include a backhaul interface forcommunication with a backhaul portion (not shown) of the network. Thebackhaul may provide a link between a base station and a core network(not shown), and in some examples, the backhaul may provideinterconnection between the respective base stations. The core networkmay be a part of a wireless communication system and may be independentof the radio access technology used in the radio access network. Varioustypes of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physicalconnection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transportnetwork.

The radio access network 100 is illustrated supporting wirelesscommunication for multiple mobile apparatuses. A mobile apparatus iscommonly referred to as user equipment (UE) in standards andspecifications promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP), but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as amobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriberunit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wirelessdevice, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobilesubscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, awireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a useragent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. AUE may be an apparatus that provides a user with access to networkservices.

Within the present document, a “mobile” apparatus need not necessarilyhave a capability to move, and may be stationary. The term mobileapparatus or mobile device broadly refers to a diverse array of devicesand technologies. For example, some non-limiting examples of a mobileapparatus include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smart phone, asession initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal computer(PC), a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), and a broad array of embedded systems, e.g.,corresponding to an “Internet of things” (IoT). A mobile apparatus mayadditionally be an automotive or other transportation vehicle, a remotesensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, aglobal positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, adrone, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, a remote control device, aconsumer and/or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, avirtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, adigital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, amedical device, implantable devices, industrial equipment, and manyother devices sized, shaped, and configured for use by users.

Within the radio access network 100, the cells may include UEs that maybe in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. For example,UEs 122 and 124 may be in communication with base station 110; UEs 126and 128 may be in communication with base station 112; UEs 130 and 132may be in communication with base station 114 by way of RRH 116; UE 134may be in communication with base station 118; and UE 136 may be incommunication with mobile base station 120. Here, each base station 110,112, 114, 118, and 120 may be configured to provide an access point to acore network (not shown) for all the UEs in the respective cells. UEsmay comprise a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped,and arranged to help in communication; such components can includeantennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors,etc. electrically coupled to each other.

In another example, a mobile network node (e.g., quadcopter 120) may beconfigured to function as a UE. For example, the quadcopter 120 mayoperate within cell 102 by communicating with base station 110. In someaspects of the present disclosure, two or more UE (e.g., UEs 126 and128) may communicate with each other using peer to peer (P2P) orsidelink signals 127 without relaying that communication through a basestation (e.g., base station 112).

Unicast or broadcast transmissions of control information and/or trafficinformation (e.g., user data traffic) from a base station (e.g., basestation 110) to one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 122 and 124) may be referredto as downlink (DL) transmission, while transmissions of controlinformation and/or traffic information originating at a UE (e.g., UE122) may be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. In addition, theuplink and/or downlink control information and/or traffic informationmay be time-divided into frames, subframes, slots, and/or symbols. Asused herein, a symbol may refer to a unit of time that, in an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed (OFDM) waveform, carries one resourceelement (RE) per sub-carrier. A slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. Asubframe may refer to a duration of 1 ms. Multiple subframes or slotsmay be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Ofcourse, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme fororganizing waveforms may be utilized, and various time divisions of thewaveform may have any suitable duration.

The air interface in the radio access network 100 may utilize one ormore multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneouscommunication of the various devices. For example, multiple access foruplink (UL) or reverse link transmissions from UEs 122 and 124 to basestation 110 may be provided utilizing time division multiple access(TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spread multipleaccess (RSMA), single-carrier frequency division multiple access(SC-FDMA), which may be equivalent to discrete Fourier transform spreadorthogonal frequency division multiple access (DFT-s-OFDMA), or othersuitable multiple access schemes. Further, multiplexing downlink (DL) orforward link transmissions from the base station 110 to UEs 122 and 124may be provided utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM), codedivision multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM),orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse codemultiplexing (SCM), single-carrier frequency division multiplexing,which may be equivalent to discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM), or other suitablemultiplexing schemes.

Further, the air interface in the radio access network 100 may utilizeone or more duplexing algorithms Duplex refers to a point-to-pointcommunication link where both endpoints can communicate with one anotherin both directions. Full duplex means both endpoints can simultaneouslycommunicate with one another. Half duplex means only one endpoint cansend information to the other at a time. In a wireless link, a fullduplex channel generally relies on physical isolation of a transmitterand receiver, and suitable interference cancellation technologies. Fullduplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links byutilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD).In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at differentcarrier frequencies. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on agiven channel are separated from one another using time divisionmultiplexing. That is, at some times the channel is dedicated fortransmissions in one direction, while at other times the channel isdedicated for transmissions in the other direction, where the directionmay change very rapidly, e.g., several times per subframe.

In the radio access network 100, the ability for a UE to communicatewhile moving, independent of their location, is referred to as mobility.The various physical channels between the UE and the radio accessnetwork are generally set up, maintained, and released under the controlof an access and mobility management function (AMF), which may include asecurity context management function (SCMF) that manages the securitycontext for both the control plane and the user plane functionality anda security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication. Invarious aspects of the disclosure, a radio access network 100 mayutilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable mobility andhandovers (i.e., the transfer of a UE's connection from one radiochannel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility,during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, a UE maymonitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell as wellas various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality ofthese parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more ofthe neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cellto another, or if signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds thatfrom the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may undertake ahandoff or handover from the serving cell to the neighboring (target)cell. For example, UE 124 may move from the geographic areacorresponding to its serving cell 102 to the geographic areacorresponding to a neighbor cell 106. When the signal strength orquality from the neighbor cell 106 exceeds that of its serving cell 102for a given amount of time, the UE 124 may transmit a reporting messageto its serving base station 110 indicating this condition. In response,the UE 124 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo ahandover to the cell 106.

In a network configured for UL-based mobility, UL reference signals fromeach UE may be utilized by the network to select a serving cell for eachUE. In some examples, the base stations 110, 112, and 114/116 maybroadcast unified synchronization signals (e.g., unified PrimarySynchronization Signals (PSSs), unified Secondary SynchronizationSignals (SSSs) and unified Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCH)). The UEs122, 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132 may receive the unified synchronizationsignals, derive the carrier frequency and subframe/slot timing from thesynchronization signals, and in response to deriving timing, transmit anuplink pilot or reference signal. The uplink pilot signal transmitted bya UE (e.g., UE 124) may be concurrently received by two or more cells(e.g., base stations 110 and 114/116) within the radio access network100. Each of the cells may measure a strength of the pilot signal, andthe radio access network (e.g., one or more of the base stations 110 and114/116 and/or a central node within the core network) may determine aserving cell for the UE 124. As the UE 124 moves through the radioaccess network 100, the network may continue to monitor the uplink pilotsignal transmitted by the UE 124. When the signal strength or quality ofthe pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds that of thesignal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the radioaccess network 100 may handover the UE 124 from the serving cell to theneighboring cell, with or without informing the UE 124.

Although the synchronization signal transmitted by the base stations110, 112, and 114/116 may be unified, the synchronization signal may notidentify a particular cell, but rather may identify a zone of multiplecells operating on the same frequency and/or with the same timing. Theuse of zones in 5G networks or other next generation communicationnetworks enables the uplink-based mobility framework and improves theefficiency of both the UE and the network, since the number of mobilitymessages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network may bereduced.

In various implementations, the air interface in the radio accessnetwork 100 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, orshared spectrum. Licensed spectrum provides for exclusive use of aportion of the spectrum, generally by virtue of a mobile networkoperator purchasing a license from a government regulatory body.Unlicensed spectrum provides for shared use of a portion of the spectrumwithout need for a government-granted license. While compliance withsome technical rules is generally still required to access unlicensedspectrum, generally, any operator or device may gain access. Sharedspectrum may fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, whereintechnical rules or limitations may be required to access the spectrum,but the spectrum may still be shared by multiple operators and/ormultiple RATs. For example, the holder of a license for a portion oflicensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share thatspectrum with other parties, e.g., with suitable licensee-determinedconditions to gain access.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, whereina scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) allocates resources (e.g.,time-frequency resources) for communication among some or all devicesand equipment within its service area or cell. Within the presentdisclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity may beresponsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasingresources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduledcommunication, UEs or scheduled entities utilize resources allocated bythe scheduling entity.

Base stations are not the only entities that may function as ascheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as ascheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduledentities (e.g., one or more other UEs). In other examples, sidelinksignals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying onscheduling or control information from a base station. For example, UE138 is illustrated communicating with UEs 140 and 142. In some examples,the UE 138 is functioning as a scheduling entity or a primary sidelinkdevice, and UEs 140 and 142 may function as a scheduled entity or anon-primary (e.g., secondary) sidelink device. In still another example,a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D),peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, and/or in amesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs 140 and 142 may optionallycommunicate directly with one another in addition to communicating withthe scheduling entity 138.

Thus, in a wireless communication network with scheduled access totime-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2Pconfiguration, or a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one ormore scheduled entities may communicate utilizing the scheduledresources. Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrates ascheduling entity 202 and a plurality of scheduled entities 204 (e.g.,204 a and 204 b). Here, the scheduling entity 202 may correspond to abase station 110, 112, 114, and/or 118. In additional examples, thescheduling entity 202 may correspond to a UE 138, the quadcopter 120, orany other suitable node in the radio access network 100. Similarly, invarious examples, the scheduled entity 204 may correspond to the UE 122,124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, and 142, or any othersuitable node in the radio access network 100.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the scheduling entity 202 may transmitdownlink user data traffic 206 including one or more traffic channels,such as the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), to one or morescheduled entities 204. The scheduling entity 202 may further broadcastcontrol information 208 including one or more control channels, such asa PBCH; a PSS; a SSS; a physical control format indicator channel(PCFICH); a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicatorchannel (PHICH); and/or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),etc., to one or more scheduled entities 204. The scheduled entities 204may transmit uplink user data traffic 210 including one or more trafficchannels, such as the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to thescheduled entity 204. Furthermore, the scheduled entities 204 maytransmit uplink control information 212 including one or more uplinkcontrol channels (e.g., the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) tothe scheduling entity 202. Uplink control information (UCI) transmittedwithin the PUCCH may include a variety of packet types and categories,including pilots, reference signals, and information configured toenable or assist in decoding uplink traffic transmissions. In someexamples, the control information 212 may include a scheduling request(SR), i.e., request for the scheduling entity 202 to schedule uplinktransmissions. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the controlchannel 212, the scheduling entity 202 may transmit downlink controlinformation 208 that may schedule the slot for uplink packettransmissions.

Broadly, the scheduling entity 202 is a node or device responsible forscheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, including thedownlink transmissions and, in some examples, uplink traffic 210 fromone or more scheduled entities to the scheduling entity 202. Broadly,the scheduled entity 204 is a node or device that receives controlinformation, including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g.,a grant), synchronization or timing information, or other controlinformation from another entity in the wireless communication networksuch as the scheduling entity 202.

In some examples, scheduled entities such as a first scheduled entity204 a and a second scheduled entity 204 b may utilize sidelink signalsfor direct D2D communication. Sidelink signals may include sidelinktraffic 214 and sidelink control 216. Sidelink control information 216may in some examples include a request signal, such as a request-to-send(RTS), a source transmit signal (STS), and/or a direction selectionsignal (DSS). The request signal may provide for a scheduled entity 204to request a duration of time to keep a sidelink channel available for asidelink signal. Sidelink control information 216 may further include aresponse signal, such as a clear-to-send (CTS) and/or a destinationreceive signal (DRS). The response signal may provide for the scheduledentity 204 to indicate the availability of the sidelink channel, e.g.,for a requested duration of time. An exchange of request and responsesignals (e.g., handshake) may enable different scheduled entitiesperforming sidelink communications to negotiate the availability of thesidelink channel prior to communication of the sidelink trafficinformation 214.

The channels or carriers illustrated in FIG. 2 are not necessarily allof the channels or carriers that may be utilized between a schedulingentity 202 and scheduled entities 204, and those of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilizedin addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, andfeedback channels.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a comparison of orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and single-carrier frequencydivision multiplexing (SC-FDM) as may be implemented within a radioaccess network, such as the RAN 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. In someexamples, this illustration may represent wireless resources as they maybe allocated in an OFDM or SC-FDM system that utilizes MIMO. It shouldbe understood that the concepts illustrated in FIG. 3 may also beapplicable to a radio access network implementing OFDMA or SC-FDMA on anuplink channel.

In an OFDM system, a two-dimensional grid of resource elements (REs) maybe defined by separation of frequency resources into closely spacednarrowband frequency tones or sub-carriers, and separation of timeresources into a sequence of OFDM symbols having a given duration. Inthe example shown in FIG. 3, each RE is represented by a rectanglehaving the dimensions of one sub-carrier (e.g., 15 kHz bandwidth) by oneOFDM symbol (e.g., 1/15 kHz=667 ms duration).

Thus, each RE represents a sub-carrier modulated for the OFDM symbolperiod by one OFDM data symbol. Each OFDM symbol may be modulated using,for example, quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16 quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM), 64 QAM, or any other suitable modulation.For simplicity, only four sub-carriers over two OFDM symbol periods areillustrated. However, it should be understood that any number ofsub-carriers and OFDM symbol periods may be utilized within a slot orsubframe. For example, in LTE networks, a slot includes 12 contiguoussub-carriers and 7 consecutive OFDM symbols, or 84 resource elements.Within each OFDM symbol period, respective cyclic prefixes (CPs) may beinserted for each sub-carrier. The CP operates as a guard band betweenOFDM symbols and is typically generated by copying a small part of theend of an OFDM symbol to the beginning of the OFDM symbol.

By setting the spacing between the tones based on the symbol rate,inter-symbol interference can be reduced or eliminated. OFDM channelssupport high data rates by allocating a data stream in a parallel manneracross multiple sub-carriers. However, OFDM suffers from highpeak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), which can make OFDM undesirable onthe uplink, where UE (scheduled entity) transmit power efficiency andamplifier cost are important factors.

In an SC-FDM system, a two-dimensional grid of resource elements (REs)may be defined by utilizing a wider bandwidth single carrier frequency,and separating the time resources into a sequence of SC-FDM symbolshaving a given duration. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a 60 kHzcarrier is shown corresponding to the four 15 kHz sub-carriers in theOFDM system. In addition, although the OFDM and SC-FDM symbols have thesame duration, each SC-FDM symbol contains N “Sub-Symbols” thatrepresent the modulated data symbols. Thus, in the example shown in FIG.3 with four modulated data symbols, in the OFDM system, the fourmodulated data symbols are transmitted in parallel (one persub-carrier), while in the SC-FDM system, the four modulated datasymbols are transmitted in series at four times the rate, with each datasymbol occupying 4×15 kHz bandwidth.

By transmitting the N data symbols in series at N times the rate, theSC-FDM bandwidth is the same as the multi-carrier OFDM system; however,the PAPR is greatly reduced. In general, as the number of sub-carriersincreases, the PAPR of the OFDM system approaches Gaussian noisestatistics, but regardless of the number of sub-carriers, the SC-FDMPAPR remains substantially the same. Thus, SC-FDM may provide benefitson the uplink by increasing the transmit power efficiency and reducingthe power amplifier cost.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an SC-FDM system 400 as may beimplemented between a transmitter 450 and a receiver 452 within a radioaccess network, such as the RAN 100 shown in FIG. 1. In some examples,the transmitter 450 corresponds to a portion of a scheduled entityconfigured to transmit an uplink control channel (e.g., the PUCCH)containing uplink control information (UCI) and the receiver 452corresponds to a scheduling entity configured to receive the uplinkcontrol channel. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the transmitter 450includes two antennas 414 a and 414 b and the receiver 452 includes asingle antenna 418. However, it should be understood that thetransmitter 450 and receiver 452 may each include any number ofantennas.

The SC-FDM system 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 is utilizing multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) technology that enables the transmitter toachieve spatial transmit diversity and/or multiplexing by transmittingdifferent streams of data (s₁ and s₂) simultaneously on the sametime-frequency resources. The data streams s₁ and s₂ may contain thesame or different data. Each data stream s₁ and s₂ may, for example, beof length M and be composed of complex modulated symbols generated froman original bit stream using a particular modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK,16 QAM, 64 QAM, etc.). In some examples, the complex modulated symbolsare modulated control symbols to be transmitted on an uplink controlchannel.

Each data stream s₁ and s₂ may be encoded (not shown) and input to arespective M-point discrete Fourier transform (DFT) 402 a and 402 b(corresponding to the length M of the data stream), which performs DFTpreceding on the respective data streams s₁ and s₂. In general, each DFT402 a and 402 b constructs a discrete frequency domain representation ofthe complex modulated symbols to produce precoded symbols. At the outputof the DFTs 402 a and 402 b, the precoded symbols are then mapped ontothe assigned sub-carriers by respective Mapping circuitry 404 a and 404b to produce modulated sub-carriers. In some examples, the assignedsub-carriers form a set of contiguous tones. The modulated sub-carriersthen pass through respective N-point inverse fast Fourier transforms(IFFTs) 406 a and 406 b for time domain conversion to produce respectiveSC-FDM sub-symbols, as shown in FIG. 3. In examples where the datastreams s₁ and s₂ correspond to uplink control information, each SC-FDMsub-symbol may be referred to herein as an SC-FDM uplink control channelsymbol. Multiple SC-FDM uplink control symbols (e.g., SC-FDMsub-symbols), each corresponding to one of the modulated controlsymbols, may be transmitted within an SC-FDM symbol, as shown in FIG. 3.Thus, one SC-FDM symbol carries M complex modulated symbols.

The SC-FDM sub-symbols output from the N-point IFFTs 406 a and 406 bpass through respective parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) converters 408 a and408 b and cyclic prefix (CP) insertion circuitry 410 a and 410 b, whereguard intervals (e.g., cyclic prefixes) are inserted between SC-FDMsymbols (e.g., blocks of SC-FDM sub-symbols) in order to reduceinter-symbol interference (ISI) caused by multi-path propagation amongthe SC-FDM symbols. The SC-FDM symbols and CPs are then input torespective digital-to-analog converter (DAC)/radio frequency (RF)circuitry 412 a and 412 b for analog conversion and up-conversion of therespective analog signals to RF. The RF signals may then be transmittedvia respective antennas 414 a and 414 b.

Each RF signal traverses a wireless channel 416 to the receiver 452,where the combined RF signals are received by the antenna 418,down-converted to baseband, and then converted to a digital signal byRF/analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry 420. The digital signalmay then be provided to CP Removal circuitry 422, where the CP isremoved from between SC-FDM symbols. The SC-FDM symbols may then beinput to a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) converter 424 and an N-point fastFourier transform (FFT) 426, where the time domain signal is transformedto a frequency domain signal. Sub-carrier de-mapping may then beperformed by De-Mapping circuitry 428, and further signal processing maythen be performed by Receiver Processing circuitry 430 to demodulate anddecode the signal to produce the original bit stream.

Space-time block coding (STBC) is an encoding scheme utilized inwireless communications in which a data stream and one or more copies ofa data stream are transmitted across two or more antennas. In STBC, adata stream is encoded in information blocks, which are then dividedamong the transmit antennas (in space) and transmitted across time. STBCis based on Alamouti's code, developed by Siavash Alamouti in 1998.Alamouti's code was designed for a two-transmit antenna system and hasthe coding matrix:

${C_{1} = \begin{bmatrix}c_{0} & c_{1} \\{- c_{1}^{*}} & c_{0}^{*}\end{bmatrix}},$where * denotes the complex conjugate.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of space-time block coding (STBC)information blocks of a data stream. In FIG. 5, a pair of two symbols c₀and c₁ of a data stream are encoded together as an information block500. At a higher layer, the exact same pair of symbols (c₀ and c₁) istransmitted via two transmit antennas over two symbol periods (e.g.,SC-FDMA or OFDMA symbol periods). For example, during a first symbolperiod (Time 1), the symbols c₀ and c₁ are each provided to a respectivetransmit antenna without any modification. In the example shown in FIG.5, symbol c₀ is provided to Antenna 1, while symbol c₁ is provided toAntenna 2.

However, during the next symbol period (Time 2), the symbols c₀ and c₁are each mathematically transformed according to Alamouti's codingmatrix above and mapped to different antennas. In the example shown inFIG. 5, symbol c₀ is transformed into the conjugate of c₀ and providedto Antenna 2, while symbol c₁ is transformed into the negative conjugateof c₁ and provided to Antenna 1. At the receiver, the symbols c₀ and c₁are processed together (e.g., the receiver does not process the data atevery symbol, but rather every other symbol). In general, the receivercombines the received symbols and then decodes each symbol separatelyusing a mathematical process.

STBC exploits the received duplicate versions of the data symbols toimprove the probability of recovering the symbols in any kind of channelcondition. Thus, STBC may be utilized in an SC-FDMA system to improvethe spatial transmit diversity on the uplink when a scheduled entity(UE) includes multiple transmit antennas, as shown in FIG. 4. However,STBC requires two paired SC-FDMA symbols to construct the STBC codeblocks. In some scenarios, there may be only an odd number of SC-FDMAsymbols within a particular slot or subframe. For example, PUCCH format3 in LTE contains only five SC-FDMA symbols within a slot. In this case,an orphan symbol is created when applying a conventional STBC scheme.

Therefore, in various aspects of the disclosure, a one-symbol STBCscheme may be utilized to achieve transmit diversity even when an oddnumber of SC-FDMA symbols are transmitted within a slot. FIG. 6 is aschematic illustration of a one-symbol STBC mechanism. As shown in FIG.6, an information block 600 containing M complex modulated symbols 602(S1, S2, SM) may be divided into a first set of complex modulatedsymbols a(i) 604 a and a second set of complex modulated symbols b(i)604 b. In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, arespective cyclic prefix 606 a and 606 b may be added (appended) to eachset of symbols a(i) and b(i). Each cyclic prefix 606 a and 606 b mayinclude, for example, a portion of the end of the respective set ofsymbols. In some examples, a cyclic postfix (not shown) may also beadded at the end of each set of symbols. Each cyclic postfix mayinclude, for example, a portion of the beginning of the respective setof symbols. In other examples, a cyclic postfix may be added instead ofthe cyclic prefix. In some examples, the cyclic prefix or cyclic postfixmay be set to zero instead of including a portion of the beginning/endof the set of symbols, depending on the desired performance andoverhead.

The cyclic prefix and/or cyclic postfix, hereinafter referred to as acyclic affix (CA), may be utilized by the receiver to identify thedifferent sets of symbols (e.g., by utilizing the repeated portion as amarker for the beginning and ending of the set of symbols) and enablethe receiver to perform space-time decoding. For example, if a cyclicpostfix is appended to a set of symbols, the receiver may identify thecyclic postfix as a repeated portion of a set of symbols at an endthereof and utilize the repeated portion to determine the beginning andend of the set of symbols (e.g., the beginning of the set of symbolscorresponds to the cyclic postfix (repeated portion) and the end of theset of symbols occurs immediately prior to the cyclic postfix).

The resulting information blocks (e.g., CA+a(i); CA+b(i)) may then besubjected to STBC coding circuitry 608 to perform Alamouti-type codeprocessing to produce duplicate versions that are functions of the setsof symbols a(i) and b(i). In the example shown in FIG. 6, afterencoding, two code blocks 610 a and 610 b are produced, each fortransmission on a separate antenna. For example, the first code block610 a for transmission on Antenna 1 includes the original informationblocks (e.g., sets of symbols a(i) 604 a and b(i) 604 b and CAs 606 aand 606 b). The second code block 610 b for transmission on Antenna 2includes the CAs 606 a and 606 b, b*(−i) 612, which is a complexconjugate of a modular of a number of modulated control symbols withinb(i), and −a*(−i) 614, which is a negative complex conjugate of amodular of a number of modulated control symbols within a(i). At thereceiver, standard space-time block decoding may be performed on the twocode blocks 610 a and 610 b to recover the original sets of complexmodulated symbols a(i) 604 a and b(i) 604 b.

In a multiple access system, where multiple scheduled entities aretransmitting UCI on an uplink control channel, the number of scheduledentities that can transmit UCI in a particular slot may be limited usingsuch a one-symbol STBC scheme. For example, each scheduled entity maytime domain spread their UCI with a unique spreading code known to thescheduling entity to allow the scheduling entity to separate thereceived UCI and identify the scheduled entity that transmitted aparticular UCI. If the scheduled entity uses multiple antennas totransmit the UCI without any special design (e.g., not using STBC), aseparate spreading code may be used for each transmit antenna, thusreducing the number of spreading codes available for scheduled entitiesto use, and as a result, reducing the number of scheduled entities thatmay transmit during a particular slot.

In various aspects of the disclosure, uplink control information (UCI)may be transmitted on an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) usingSC-FDMA and one-symbol STBC by time domain spreading each of the STBCcode blocks over multiple SC-FDMA symbols and utilizing the samespreading code for each of the antennas. FIG. 7 is a schematicillustration of a portion of a transmitter 700 (e.g., in a scheduledentity) for generating SC-FDMA symbols containing uplink controlinformation utilizing one-symbol STBC.

In FIG. 7, a symbol stream, which may be composed of a plurality ofmodulated control symbols generated using a particular modulation scheme(e.g., QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, etc.), may be input to an STBC encoder 702.The STBC encoder 702, as shown in FIG. 6, divides the symbol stream intotwo sets of modulated control symbols. The STBC encoder 702 then appendsa respective cyclic affix (e.g., cyclic prefix and/or cyclic postfix) toeach of the sets of modulated control symbols to produce two informationblocks, where the combination of the two information blocks has a totallength of M after adding the respective CAs. The two information blocksmay then be encoded using space-time block coding, as also shown in FIG.6, to produce two code blocks. Each of the code blocks may then beprovided along a different transmitter chain 714 a and 714 b towards adifferent antenna. For example, the first code block may be providedalong a first transmitter chain 714 a towards a first antenna (notspecifically shown in FIG. 7) and the second code block is providedalong a second transmitter chain 714 b towards a second antenna (notspecifically shown in FIG. 7). As described above in connection withFIG. 6, the first code block for transmission on the first antenna mayinclude the original information blocks, whereas the second code blockfor transmission on the second antenna may include the cyclic affixesand functions of each of the sets of modulated control symbols.

Each code block may then be input to a respective M-point discreteFourier transform (DFT) 704 a and 704 b (corresponding to the length Mof each code block), which performs DFT precoding on the respective codeblocks to produce precoded symbols. At the output of the DFTs 704 a and704 b, the precoded symbols may then be input to respective time domainspreading circuitry 706 a and 706 b to time domain spread the precodedsymbols over a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols using a spreading code 716.In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, each time domainspreading circuitry 706 a and 706 b utilizes the same spreading code716. In some examples, the spreading code 716 may be a Pseudo Noise (PN)code, a Walsh code and/or a DFT code.

The spreading code 716 is characterized by the spreading factor, whichindicates the symbol length of the spreading code. In some examples, thespreading factor (spreading code size) is limited by the number ofSC-FDMA symbols utilized to transmit UCI in a slot. For example, ifPUCCH format 3 is selected for transmission of UCI (here, the PUCCHformat indicates the type of information included in the UCI with format3 including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgementinformation), up to five SC-FDMA symbols may be used to transmit UCI ina slot when the network deploys normal CP numerology (e.g., normal CPlength and subcarrier spacing) in LTE. In an LTE network, where eachSC-FDMA symbol carries N complex modulated symbols (e.g., for PUCCHformat 3, N=12), the output from each of the DFT blocks 704 a and 704 bmay include N respective precoded symbols that may be time domain spreadover five SC-FDMA symbols by the time domain spreading circuitry 706 aand 706 b. For example, each precoded symbol may be multiplied by a fivesymbol length spreading code Wi, where W_(i)=[W_(i)(0), W_(i)(1),W_(i)(2), W_(i)(3), W_(i)(4)] and distributed over the time domain, suchthat each SC-FDMA symbol includes a time domain spread version of eachof the N precoded symbols.

In some examples, one of the SC-FDMA symbols may be used to transmit areference signal (RS) instead of UCI. In this example, the precodedsymbols output from the DFTs 704 a and 704 b may be time domain spreadover the remaining four symbols using a four-symbol length spreadingcode. In general, the number of RS and control data symbols used forcontrol channel transmission may be dependent on the user multiplexingcapability as well as the RS signal processing gain. For example, Msymbols may be used for RS, while the remaining N-M symbols may be usedfor control data. In this example, time domain spreading is performed onthe N-M control data symbols.

The time domain spread symbols for each SC-FDMA symbol may then bemapped onto the assigned sub-carriers by respective Mapping circuitry708 a and 708 b to produce modulated sub-carriers. For example, at aninitial time, the portion of the time domain spread symbolscorresponding to a first SC-FDMA symbol may be mapped onto the assignedsub-carriers, followed by the time domain spread symbols correspondingto each of the other SC-FDMA symbols in the slot at subsequent times.The modulated sub-carriers for each SC-FDMA symbol in the slot thensequentially pass through respective N-point inverse fast Fouriertransforms (IFFTs) 710 a and 710 b for time domain conversion to producerespective SC-FDMA sub-symbols for each of the time domain spreadSC-FDMA symbols, as shown in FIG. 3. As discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 4, each SC-FDMA sub-symbol may be referred to herein as anSC-FDMA uplink control channel symbol, and multiple SC-FDMA uplinkcontrol symbols (e.g., SC-FDMA sub-symbols), each corresponding to oneof the time domain spread precoded symbols, may be transmitted within anSC-FDMA symbol, as shown in FIG. 3.

The SC-FDMA sub-symbols output from the N-point IFFTs 710 a and 710 bthen sequentially pass through respective parallel-to-serial (P-to-S)converters/CP insertion circuitry 712 a and 712 b, where guard intervals(e.g., cyclic prefixes) are inserted between SC-FDMA symbols (e.g.,blocks of SC-FDMA sub-symbols) in order to reduce inter-symbolinterference (ISI) caused by multi-path propagation among the SC-FDMAsymbols. The SC-FDMA symbols and CPs may then be converted to analogsignals and up-converted to radio frequency for transmission viarespective antennas.

In some examples, the transmitter 700 may include more than twoantennas, which may be utilized to achieve transmit time diversity inaddition to the transmit spatial diversity realized with STBC. Forexample, in a transmitter with four antennas, a cyclic shift delay, suchas that produced using a small delay cyclic delay diversity process, maybe applied to each of the SC-FDMA symbols transmitted on a firstantenna, and the resulting cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols may betransmitted on a third antenna. In addition, a similar cyclic shiftdelay may be applied to each of the SC-FDMA symbols transmitted on asecond antenna and the resulting cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols may betransmitted on a fourth antenna.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor a scheduling entity 800 employing a processing system 814. Forexample, the scheduling entity 800 may be a user equipment (UE) asillustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. In another example,the scheduling entity 800 may be a base station as illustrated in anyone or more of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

The scheduling entity 800 may be implemented with a processing system814 that includes one or more processors 804. Examples of processors 804include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors(DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logicdevices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits,and other suitable hardware configured to perform the variousfunctionality described throughout this disclosure. In various examples,the scheduling entity 800 may be configured to perform any one or moreof the functions described herein. That is, the processor 804, asutilized in a scheduling entity 800, may be used to implement any one ormore of the processes and procedures described below. The processor 804may in some instances be implemented via a baseband or modem chip and inother implementations, the processor 804 may itself comprise a number ofdevices distinct and different from a baseband or modem chip (e.g., insuch scenarios is may work in concert to achieve embodiments discussedherein). And as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements andcomponents outside of a baseband modem processor can be used inimplementations, including RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators,buffers, interleavers, adders/summers, etc.

In this example, the processing system 814 may be implemented with a busarchitecture, represented generally by the bus 802. The bus 802 mayinclude any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on thespecific application of the processing system 814 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 802 communicatively couples together variouscircuits including one or more processors (represented generally by theprocessor 804), a memory 805, and computer-readable media (representedgenerally by the computer-readable medium 806). The bus 802 may alsolink various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltageregulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in theart, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface808 provides an interface between the bus 802 and a transceiver 810. Thetransceiver 810 provides a communication interface or means forcommunicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface 812 (e.g.,keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

The processor 804 is responsible for managing the bus 802 and generalprocessing, including the execution of software stored on thecomputer-readable medium 806. The software, when executed by theprocessor 804, causes the processing system 814 to perform the variousfunctions described below for any particular apparatus. Thecomputer-readable medium 806 and the memory 805 may also be used forstoring data that is manipulated by the processor 804 when executingsoftware.

One or more processors 804 in the processing system may executesoftware. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions,instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs,subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications,software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threadsof execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readablemedium 806. The computer-readable medium 806 may be a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumincludes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk,floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD)or a digital versatile disc (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device(e.g., a card, a stick, or a key drive), a random access memory (RAM), aread only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM(EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removabledisk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/orinstructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. Thecomputer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrierwave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium fortransmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and readby a computer.

The computer-readable medium 806 may reside in the processing system814, external to the processing system 814, or distributed acrossmultiple entities including the processing system 814. Thecomputer-readable medium 806 may be embodied in a computer programproduct. By way of example, a computer program product may include acomputer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in theart will recognize how best to implement the described functionalitypresented throughout this disclosure depending on the particularapplication and the overall design constraints imposed on the overallsystem.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 804 may includecircuitry configured for various functions. For example, the processor804 may include resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 841,configured to generate, schedule, and modify a resource assignment orgrant of time-frequency resources (e.g., a set of one or more resourceelements). For example, the resource assignment and scheduling circuitry841 may schedule time-frequency resources within a plurality of timedivision duplex (TDD) and/or frequency division duplex (FDD) subframesor slots to carry user data traffic and/or control information to and/orfrom multiple UEs (scheduled entities). The resource assignment andscheduling circuitry 841 may further operate in coordination withresource assignment and scheduling software 851.

The processor 804 may further include downlink (DL) traffic and controlchannel generation and transmission circuitry 842, configured togenerate and transmit downlink user data traffic and controlsignals/channels. For example, the DL traffic and control channelgeneration and transmission circuitry 842 may be configured to generatea physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) including downlink controlinformation and/or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) includingdownlink user data traffic. In addition, the DL traffic and controlchannel generation and transmission circuitry 842 may operate incoordination with the resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 841to schedule the DL user data traffic and/or control information and toplace the DL user data traffic and/or control information onto a timedivision duplex (TDD) or frequency division duplex (FDD) carrier withinone or more subframes or slots in accordance with the resources assignedto the DL user data traffic and/or control information. The DL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 842 mayfurther be configured to multiplex DL transmissions utilizing timedivision multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequencydivision multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexingschemes. The DL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 842 may further operate in coordination with DL data andcontrol channel generation and transmission software 852.

The processor 804 may further include uplink (UL) traffic and controlchannel reception and processing circuitry 843, configured to receiveand process uplink control channels and uplink traffic channels from oneor more scheduled entities. For example, the UL traffic and controlchannel reception and processing circuitry 843 may be configured toreceive uplink user data traffic from one or more scheduled entities.The UL traffic and control channel reception and processing circuitry843 may further be configured to receive a Physical Uplink ControlChannel (PUCCH) containing multiplexed uplink control information (UCI)from multiple scheduled entities.

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, the PUCCH may betransmitted using SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC. The UL traffic andcontrol channel reception and processing circuitry 843 may be configuredto receive the PUCCH including a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols, removethe CA between the SC-FDMA symbols, and time domain de-spread theSC-FDMA symbols received within a slot to identify two STBC code blockshaving the same spreading code. The UL traffic and control channelreception and processing circuitry 843 may further utilize STBC decodercircuitry 844 to space-time block decode over the two STBC code blocksto produce a plurality of modulated control symbols. The UL traffic andcontrol channel reception and processing circuitry 843 may furtherdemodulate the plurality of modulated control symbols to recover theoriginal control data (e.g., set of control information bits). The ULtraffic and control channel reception and processing circuitry 843 mayfurther operate in coordination with UL traffic and control channelreception and processing software 853. In addition, the STBC decodercircuitry 844 may further operate in coordination with STBC decodersoftware 854.

The circuitry included in the processor 804 is provided as non-limitingexamples. Other means for carrying out the described functions existsand is included within various aspects of the present disclosure. Insome aspects of the disclosure, the computer-readable medium 806 maystore computer-executable code with instructions configured to performvarious processes described herein. The instructions included in thecomputer-readable medium 806 are provided as non-limiting examples.Other instructions configured to carry out the described functions existand are included within various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an exemplary scheduled entity 900 employing aprocessing system 914. In accordance with various aspects of thedisclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combinationof elements may be implemented with a processing system 914 thatincludes one or more processors 904. For example, the scheduled entity900 may be a user equipment (UE) as illustrated in any one or more ofFIGS. 1 and/or 2.

The processing system 914 may be substantially the same as theprocessing system 814 illustrated in FIG. 9, including a bus interface908, a bus 902, memory 905, a processor 904, and a computer-readablemedium 906. Furthermore, the scheduled entity 900 may include a userinterface 912 and a transceiver 910 substantially similar to thosedescribed above in FIG. 8. That is, the processor 904, as utilized in ascheduled entity 900, may be used to implement any one or more of theprocesses described below.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 904 may include uplink(UL) traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942, configured to generate and transmit uplinkcontrol/feedback/acknowledgement information on an UL control channel.For example, the UL traffic and control channel generation andtransmission circuitry 942 may be configured to generate and transmituplink user data traffic on an UL traffic channel (e.g., a PUSCH) inaccordance with an uplink grant. The UL traffic and control channelgeneration and transmission circuitry 942 may further be configured togenerate and transmit an uplink control channel (e.g., a Physical UplinkControl Channel (PUCCH) containing uplink control information (UCI).

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, the UL traffic andcontrol channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 may beconfigured to generate control information bits corresponding to theuplink control information and modulate the control information bits(e.g., using QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, etc.) to produce modulated controlsymbols. The UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 may further be configured to encode the uplink controlinformation utilizing STBC encoder circuitry 946 to produce two codeblocks, each for transmission via a respective antenna. In someexamples, the STBC encoder circuitry 946 may operate in accordance withthe functionality of the STBC encoder 702 described above in connectionwith FIG. 7.

The UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 may further be configured to perform a DFT on each of the codeblocks to produce respective sets of precoded symbols, and then timedomain spread each of the sets of precoded symbols utilizing time domainspreading circuitry 948 to produce respective time domain spreadsignals. In some examples, the time domain spreading circuitry 948 mayoperate in accordance with the functionality of the time domainspreading circuitry 706 a and 706 b described above in connection withFIG. 7. The UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 may further be configured to generate respective sets ofSC-FDMA symbols from the respective time domain spread signals and tooutput each of the sets of SC-FDMA symbols to the transceiver 910 fortransmission via respective antennas.

The UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 may further utilize cyclic shift delay circuitry 950 to apply acyclic shift delay, such as that produced using a small delay cyclicdelay diversity process, to each of the SC-FDMA symbols transmitted on afirst antenna, and the resulting cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols may beoutput to the transceiver 910 for transmission on a third antenna. Inaddition, the cyclic shift delay circuitry 950 may further apply asimilar cyclic shift delay to each of the SC-FDMA symbols transmitted ona second antenna and the resulting cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols may beoutput to the transceiver 910 for transmission on a fourth antenna. Ifmore than four transmit antennas are utilized, a different cyclic shiftmay be applied to the SC-FDMA symbols for each pair of transmitantennas.

The UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 may operate in coordination with UL traffic and control channelgeneration and transmission software 952. In addition, the STBC encodercircuitry 946 may operate in coordination with STBC encoder software956. Furthermore, the time domain spreading circuitry 948 may operate incoordination with time domain spreading software 958. Similarly, thecyclic shift delay circuitry 950 may operate in coordination with cyclicshift delay software 960.

The processor 904 may further include downlink (DL) traffic and controlchannel reception and processing circuitry 944, configured for receivingand processing downlink user data traffic on a traffic channel (e.g.,PDSCH), and to receive and process control information on one or moredownlink control channels. In some examples, received downlink user datatraffic and/or control information may be temporarily stored in a databuffer 915 within memory 905. The DL traffic and control channelreception and processing circuitry 944 may operate in coordination withDL traffic and control channel reception and processing software 954.

The circuitry included in the processor 904 is provided as non-limitingexamples. Other means for carrying out the described functions existsand is included within various aspects of the present disclosure. Insome aspects of the disclosure, the computer-readable medium 906 maystore computer-executable code with instructions configured to performvarious processes described herein. The instructions included in thecomputer-readable medium 906 are provided as non-limiting examples.Other instructions configured to carry out the described functions existand are included within various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 1000 forgenerating uplink control information for transmission on an uplinkcontrol channel utilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according tosome aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or allillustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementationwithin the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustratedfeatures may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. Insome examples, the process 1000 may be carried out by the scheduledentity 900 illustrated in FIG. 9. In some examples, the process 1000 maybe carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out thefunctions or algorithm described below.

At block 1002, the scheduled entity may generate uplink controlinformation (UCI) including a plurality of modulated control symbols fortransmission on an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH). For example,the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 may generate theUCI.

At block 1004, the scheduled entity may divide the plurality ofmodulated control symbols into two sets of modulated control symbols(e.g., a first set of modulated control symbols and a second set ofmodulated control symbols). At block 1006, the scheduled entity may thenappend respective cyclic affixes (e.g., cyclic prefixes and/or cyclicpostfixes) to each of the sets of modulated control symbols to producerespective first and second information blocks, where the combination ofthe first and second information blocks has a total length of M. The CAmay be zero or nonzero. For example, the UL traffic and control channelgeneration and transmission circuitry 942 together with the STBC encodercircuitry 946 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 maydivide the modulated control symbols and append the CAs to produce thefirst and second information blocks.

At block 1008, the scheduled entity may encode the first and secondinformation blocks using space-time block coding to produce a first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna and a second code block fortransmission via a second antenna. In some examples, the first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna may include the originalinformation blocks, whereas the second code block for transmission viathe second antenna may include the cyclic affixes and functions of eachof the sets of modulated control symbols. For example, the UL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 togetherwith the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may encode the first and second informationblocks to produce the first and second code blocks.

At block 1010, the first code block may be time domain spread over aplurality of SC-FDMA symbols utilizing a first spreading code. In someexamples, the first code block may be input to an M-point discreteFourier transform (DFT) to produce precoded symbols, and the precodedsymbols may then be time domain spread over the plurality of SC-FDMAsymbols for transmission via the first antenna. For example, the ULtraffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942together with the time domain spreading circuitry 948 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may time domain spread thefirst code block over the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols.

At block 1012, the second code block may also be time domain spread overa plurality of SC-FDMA symbols utilizing a second spreading code. Inaccordance with various aspects of the disclosure, the second spreadingcode is the same as the first spreading code. In some examples, thesecond code block may be input to an M-point discrete Fourier transform(DFT) to produce precoded symbols, and the precoded symbols may then betime domain spread over the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols fortransmission via the second antenna. For example, the UL traffic andcontrol channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 together withthe time domain spreading circuitry 948 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may time domain spread the second code block overthe plurality of SC-FDMA symbols.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary process 1100 forgenerating uplink control information for transmission on an uplinkcontrol channel utilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according tosome aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or allillustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementationwithin the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustratedfeatures may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. Insome examples, the process 1100 may be carried out by the scheduledentity 900 illustrated in FIG. 9. In some examples, the process 1100 maybe carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out thefunctions or algorithm described below.

At block 1102, the scheduled entity may generate uplink controlinformation (UCI) including a plurality of modulated control symbols fortransmission on an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH). For example,the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 may generate theUCI.

At block 1104, the scheduled entity may divide the plurality ofmodulated control symbols into two sets of modulated control symbols(e.g., a first set of modulated control symbols and a second set ofmodulated control symbols). At block 1106, the scheduled entity may thenappend respective cyclic affixes (e.g., cyclic prefixes and/or cyclicpostfixes) to each of the sets of modulated control symbols to producerespective first and second information blocks, where the combination ofthe first and second information blocks has a total length of M. Forexample, the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 together with the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may divide the modulatedcontrol symbols and append the CAs to produce the first and secondinformation blocks.

At block 1108, the scheduled entity may encode the first and secondinformation blocks using space-time block coding to produce a first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna and a second code block fortransmission via a second antenna. In some examples, the first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna may include the originalinformation blocks, whereas the second code block for transmission viathe second antenna may include the cyclic affixes and functions of eachof the sets of modulated control symbols. For example, the UL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 togetherwith the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may encode the first and second informationblocks to produce the first and second code blocks.

At block 1110, the scheduled entity may perform discrete Fouriertransform (DFT) on the first and second code blocks to produce first andsecond precoded symbols. For example, the scheduled entity may constructa discrete frequency domain representation of the complex modulatedsymbols to produce the precoded symbols. For example, the UL traffic andcontrol channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may perform DFT on the firstand second code blocks.

At block 1112, the scheduled entity may time domain spread the first andsecond precoded symbols over a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols utilizingthe same spreading code to produce first and second spread symbols. Forexample, the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 together with the time domain spreading circuitry 948shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 may time domainspread the first and second precoded symbols over the plurality ofSC-FDMA symbols.

At block 1114, the scheduled entity may map the first and second spreadsymbols onto sub-carriers to produce first and second modulatedsub-carriers. In some examples, the assigned sub-carriers form a set ofcontiguous tones. For example, the UL traffic and control channelgeneration and transmission circuitry 942 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may map the spread symbols onto sub-carriers.

At block 1116, the scheduled entity may perform inverse fast Fouriertransform (IFFT) on the first and second modulated sub-carriers for timedomain conversion to produce first and second SC-FDMA uplink controlchannel symbols within first and second SC-FDMA symbols. MultipleSC-FDMA uplink control channel symbols (e.g., SC-FDMA sub-symbols), eachcorresponding to one of the modulated control symbols, may betransmitted within an SC-FDMA symbol, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, eachSC-FDMA symbol includes M SC-FDMA uplink control channel symbols. As anexample, a portion of the first spread symbols may be mapped ontosub-carriers and subjected to IFFT to produce the SC-FDMA uplink controlchannel symbols within one of the first SC-FDMA symbols. Similarly, aportion of the second spread symbols may be mapped onto sub-carrier andsubjected to IFFT to produce the SC-FDMA uplink control channel symbolswithin one of the second SC-FDMA symbols. For example, the UL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may perform IFFT on themodulated sub-carriers.

At block 1118, the scheduled entity may insert a respective cyclicprefix (CP) into each of the SC-FDMA symbols (e.g., each of the firstand second SC-FDMA symbols). For example, the UL traffic and controlchannel generation and transmission circuitry 942 shown and describedabove in connection with FIG. 9 may insert the CP into the SC-FDMAsymbols.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary process 1200 forgenerating uplink control information for transmission on an uplinkcontrol channel utilizing SC-FDMA with one-symbol STBC, according tosome aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or allillustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementationwithin the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustratedfeatures may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. Insome examples, the process 1200 may be carried out by the scheduledentity 900 illustrated in FIG. 9. In some examples, the process 1200 maybe carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out thefunctions or algorithm described below.

At block 1202, the scheduled entity may generate uplink controlinformation (UCI) including a plurality of modulated control symbols fortransmission on an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH). For example,the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmission circuitry942 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 may generate theUCI.

At block 1204, the scheduled entity may divide the plurality ofmodulated control symbols into two sets of modulated control symbols(e.g., a first set of modulated control symbols and a second set ofmodulated control symbols). At block 1206, the scheduled entity may thenappend respective cyclic affixes (e.g., cyclic prefixes and/or cyclicpostfixes) to each of the sets of modulated control symbols to producerespective first and second information blocks, where the combination ofthe first and second information blocks has a total length of M. Forexample, the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 together with the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may divide the modulatedcontrol symbols and append the CAs to produce the first and secondinformation blocks.

At block 1208, the scheduled entity may encode the first and secondinformation blocks using space-time block coding to produce a first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna and a second code block fortransmission via a second antenna. In some examples, the first codeblock for transmission via a first antenna may include the originalinformation blocks, whereas the second code block for transmission viathe second antenna may include the cyclic affixes and functions of eachof the sets of modulated control symbols. For example, the UL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 togetherwith the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may encode the first and second informationblocks to produce the first and second code blocks.

At block 1210, the scheduled entity may time domain spread the first andsecond code blocks over a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols utilizing thesame spreading code to produce first and second SC-FDMA symbols. Forexample, the UL traffic and control channel generation and transmissioncircuitry 942 together with the time domain spreading circuitry 948shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 may time domainspread the first and second code blocks over the plurality of SC-FDMAsymbols.

At block 1212, the scheduled entity may transmit the first SC-FDMAsymbols on a first antenna and the second SC-FDMA symbols on a secondantenna. For example, the UL traffic and control channel generation andtransmission circuitry 942 together with the transceiver 910 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may transmit the first andsecond SC-FDMA symbols on first and second antennas, respectively.

At block 1214, the scheduled entity may apply a first cyclic shift delayto the first SC-FDMA symbols to produce first cyclic shifted SC-FDMAsymbols. For example, the UL traffic and control channel generation andtransmission circuitry 942 together with the cyclic shift delaycircuitry 950 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9 mayapply the first cyclic shift delay to the first SC-FDMA symbols.

At block 1216, the scheduled entity may apply a second cyclic shiftdelay to the second SC-FDMA symbols to produce second cyclic shiftedSC-FDMA symbols. The second cyclic shift delay may be the same as ordifferent from the first cyclic shift delay. For example, the UL trafficand control channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 togetherwith the cyclic shift delay circuitry 950 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 9 may apply the second cyclic shift delay to thesecond SC-FDMA symbols.

At block 1218, the scheduled entity may transmit the first cyclicshifted SC-FDMA symbols on a third antenna and the second cyclic shiftedSC-FDMA symbols on a fourth antenna. For example, the UL traffic andcontrol channel generation and transmission circuitry 942 together withthe transceiver 910 shown and described above in connection with FIG. 9may transmit the first and second cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols onthird and fourth antennas, respectively.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 1300 forreceiving and processing a PUCCH including UCI generated using SC-FDMAand one-symbol STBC, in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure.As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in aparticular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure,and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation ofall embodiments. In some examples, the process 1300 may be carried outby the scheduling entity 800 illustrated in FIG. 8. In some examples,the process 1300 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or meansfor carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

At block 1302, the scheduling entity may receive a PUCCH including aplurality of uplink control information (UCI), each transmitted by oneof a set of scheduled entities. Each of the UCI includes a plurality ofSC-FDMA symbols generated using STBC. For example, the UL traffic andcontrol channel reception and processing circuitry 843 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 8 may receive the PUCCH.

At block 1304, the scheduling entity may time domain de-spread theplurality of SC-FDMA symbols received in a slot to produce a pluralityof code blocks. In some examples, the scheduling entity may utilizecyclic affixes appended to each of the code blocks to identify thedifferent code blocks. For example, the UL traffic and control channelreception and processing circuitry 843 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 8 may time domain de-spread the SC-FDMA symbols.

At block 1306, the scheduling entity may identify, from the plurality ofcode blocks, a first code block and a second code block that have thesame spreading code. For example, the UL traffic and control channelreception and processing circuitry 843 shown and described above inconnection with FIG. 8 may identify the first and second code blocks.

At block 1308, the scheduling entity may apply space-time block decodingover the first and second code blocks to produce first and secondinformation blocks. The first information block may include a first setof modulated control symbols and a first cyclic affix appended to thefirst set of modulated control symbols. The second information blockmade include a second set of modulated control symbols and a secondcyclic affix appended to the second set of modulated control symbols.For example, the UL traffic and control channel reception and processingcircuitry 843 together with the STBC decoder circuitry 844 shown anddescribed above in connection with FIG. 8 may space-time block decodethe first and second code blocks.

At block 1310, the scheduling entity may demodulate the first and secondsets of modulated control symbols to produce a plurality of control data(e.g., a set of original control information bits). For example, the ULtraffic and control channel reception and processing circuitry 843 shownand described above in connection with FIG. 8 may demodulate theplurality of modulated control symbols.

In one configuration, a scheduled entity (e.g., the scheduled entity 900shown in FIG. 9) within a wireless communication network includes meansfor generating uplink control information including a plurality ofmodulated control symbols for transmission on an uplink control channel,means for dividing the plurality of modulated control symbols into atleast a first set of modulated control symbols and a second set ofmodulated control symbols, and means for appending a first cyclic affixto the first set of modulated control symbols to produce a firstinformation block and a second cyclic affix to the second set ofmodulated control symbols to produce a second information block. Thescheduled entity further includes means for encoding the firstinformation block and the second information block utilizing space-timeblock coding to produce a first code block for transmission via a firstantenna and a second code block for transmission via a second antenna,means for time domain spreading the first code block over a plurality offirst SC-FDMA symbols transmitted via the first antenna utilizing afirst spreading code, and means for time domain spreading the secondcode block over a plurality of second SC-FDMA symbols transmitted viathe second antenna utilizing a second spreading code, where the firstspreading code is the same as the second spreading code.

In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be the processor(s) 904shown in FIG. 9 configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. For example, the aforementioned means forgenerating uplink control information including modulated controlsymbols, means for dividing the modulated control symbols into the firstand second sets of modulated control symbols, and means for appendingthe first cyclic affix to the first set of modulated control symbols andthe second cyclic affix to the second set of modulated control symbolsmay include the UL traffic and control channel generation andtransmission circuitry 942 shown in FIG. 9. In addition, theaforementioned means for encoding the first and second informationblocks may include the STBC encoder circuitry 946 shown in FIG. 9.Furthermore, the aforementioned means for time domain spreading thefirst and second code blocks may include the time domain spreadingcircuitry 948 shown in FIG. 9. In another aspect, the aforementionedmeans may be a circuit or any apparatus configured to perform thefunctions recited by the aforementioned means.

Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presentedwith reference to an exemplary implementation. As those skilled in theart will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout thisdisclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures and communication standards.

By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within othersystems defined by 3GPP, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the EvolvedPacket System (EPS), the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS), and/or the Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects mayalso be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation PartnershipProject 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and/or Evolution-Data Optimized(EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB),Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunicationstandard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employedwill depend on the specific application and the overall designconstraints imposed on the system.

Within the present disclosure, the word “exemplary” is used to mean“serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementationor aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of thedisclosure. Likewise, the term “aspects” does not require that allaspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage ormode of operation. The term “coupled” is used herein to refer to thedirect or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if objectA physically touches object B, and object B touches object C, thenobjects A and C may still be considered coupled to one another—even ifthey do not directly physically touch each other. For instance, a firstobject may be coupled to a second object even though the first object isnever directly physically in contact with the second object. The terms“circuit” and “circuitry” are used broadly, and intended to include bothhardware implementations of electrical devices and conductors that, whenconnected and configured, enable the performance of the functionsdescribed in the present disclosure, without limitation as to the typeof electronic circuits, as well as software implementations ofinformation and instructions that, when executed by a processor, enablethe performance of the functions described in the present disclosure.

One or more of the components, steps, features and/or functionsillustrated in FIGS. 1-13 may be rearranged and/or combined into asingle component, step, feature or function or embodied in severalcomponents, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps,and/or functions may also be added without departing from novel featuresdisclosed herein. The apparatus, devices, and/or components illustratedin FIGS. 1-9 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods,features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms describedherein may also be efficiently implemented in software and/or embeddedin hardware.

It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps inthe methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Basedupon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order orhierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchypresented unless specifically recited therein.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to“at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of thoseitems, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b,or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, band c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of thevarious aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known orlater come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is tobe construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in thecase of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “stepfor.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A scheduling entity within a wirelesscommunication network, comprising: a processor; a memory communicativelycoupled to the processor; and a transceiver communicatively coupled tothe processor, wherein the processor is configured to: receive an uplinksignal comprising an uplink control channel via the transceiver, theuplink control channel comprising a plurality of uplink controlinformation, each transmitted by one of a set of scheduled entities,wherein each of the plurality of uplink control information comprises aplurality of single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA)symbols; time domain de-spread the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols toproduce a plurality of code blocks; identify, from the plurality of codeblocks, a first code block and a second code block that each comprise asame spreading code; apply space-time block decoding over the first codeblock and the second code block to produce a first information blockcomprising a first set of modulated control symbols and a first cyclicaffix appended to the first set of modulated control symbols and asecond information block comprising a second set of modulated controlsymbols and a second cyclic affix appended to the second set ofmodulated control symbols; and demodulate the first set of modulatedcontrol symbols and the second set of modulated control symbols toproduce a plurality of control data.
 2. The scheduling entity of claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to: utilize the firstcyclic affix and the second cyclic affix to identify the first codeblock and the second code block.
 3. The scheduling entity of claim 1,wherein: the first code block comprises the first information block andthe second information block; and the second code block comprises acomplex conjugate of a modular of a number of the second set ofmodulated control symbols within the second information block and anegative complex conjugate of a modular of a number of the first set ofmodulated control symbols within the first information block.
 4. Thescheduling entity of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: remove a respective cyclic prefix between respectivepairs of the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols.
 5. The scheduling entity ofclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols comprises arespective plurality of SC-FDMA uplink control channel symbols, andwherein the processor is further configured to: perform a fast Fouriertransform on each of the plurality of SC-FDMA uplink control channelsymbols to produce a plurality of modulated sub-carriers; and de-map theplurality of modulated sub-carriers to produce a plurality of spreadsymbols, wherein the processor is further configured to time domainde-spread the plurality of spread symbols to produce the plurality ofcode blocks.
 6. The scheduling entity of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof SC-FDMA symbols further comprises a plurality of cyclic shiftedSC-FDMA symbols, each associated with a respective cyclic shift delay.7. A scheduling entity within a wireless communication network,comprising: means for receiving an uplink signal comprising an uplinkcontrol channel, the uplink control channel comprising a plurality ofuplink control information, each transmitted by one of a set ofscheduled entities, wherein each of the plurality of uplink controlinformation comprises a plurality of single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols; means for time domain de-spreadingthe plurality of SC-FDMA symbols to produce a plurality of code blocks;means for identifying, from the plurality of code blocks, a first codeblock and a second code block that each comprise a same spreading code;means for applying space-time block decoding over the first code blockand the second code block to produce a first information blockcomprising a first set of modulated control symbols and a first cyclicaffix appended to the first set of modulated control symbols and asecond information block comprising a second set of modulated controlsymbols and a second cyclic affix appended to the second set ofmodulated control symbols; and means for demodulating the first set ofmodulated control symbols and the second set of modulated controlsymbols to produce a plurality of control data.
 8. The scheduling entityof claim 7, further comprising: means for utilizing the first cyclicaffix and the second cyclic affix to identify the first code block andthe second code block.
 9. The scheduling entity of claim 7, wherein: thefirst code block comprises the first information block and the secondinformation block; and the second code block comprises a complexconjugate of a modular of a number of the second set of modulatedcontrol symbols within the second information block and a negativecomplex conjugate of a modular of a number of the first set of modulatedcontrol symbols within the first information block.
 10. The schedulingentity of claim 7, further comprising: means for removing a respectivecyclic prefix between respective pairs of the plurality of SC-FDMAsymbols.
 11. The scheduling entity of claim 7, wherein each of theplurality of SC-FDMA symbols comprises a respective plurality of SC-FDMAuplink control channel symbols, and further comprising: means forperforming a fast Fourier transform on each of the plurality of SC-FDMAuplink control channel symbols to produce a plurality of modulatedsub-carriers; and means for de-mapping the plurality of modulatedsub-carriers to produce a plurality of spread symbols, wherein theprocessor is further configured to time domain de-spread the pluralityof spread symbols to produce the plurality of code blocks.
 12. Thescheduling entity of claim 7, wherein the plurality of SC-FDMA symbolsfurther comprises a plurality of cyclic shifted SC-FDMA symbols, eachassociated with a respective cyclic shift delay.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, comprisingcode for causing a scheduling entity to: receive an uplink signalcomprising an uplink control channel via a transceiver, the uplinkcontrol channel comprising a plurality of uplink control information,each transmitted by one of a set of scheduled entities, wherein each ofthe plurality of uplink control information comprises a plurality ofsingle-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols;time domain de-spread the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols to produce aplurality of code blocks; identify, from the plurality of code blocks, afirst code block and a second code block that each comprise a samespreading code; apply space-time block decoding over the first codeblock and the second code block to produce a first information blockcomprising a first set of modulated control symbols and a first cyclicaffix appended to the first set of modulated control symbols and asecond information block comprising a second set of modulated controlsymbols and a second cyclic affix appended to the second set ofmodulated control symbols; and demodulate the first set of modulatedcontrol symbols and the second set of modulated control symbols toproduce a plurality of control data.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising code forcausing the scheduling entity to: utilize the first cyclic affix and thesecond cyclic affix to identify the first code block and the second codeblock.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein: the first code block comprises the first information block andthe second information block; and the second code block comprises acomplex conjugate of a modular of a number of the second set ofmodulated control symbols within the second information block and anegative complex conjugate of a modular of a number of the first set ofmodulated control symbols within the first information block.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprisingcode for causing the scheduling entity to: remove a respective cyclicprefix between respective pairs of the plurality of SC-FDMA symbols. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein each ofthe plurality of SC-FDMA symbols comprises a respective plurality ofSC-FDMA uplink control channel symbols, and further comprising code forcausing the scheduling entity to: perform a fast Fourier transform oneach of the plurality of SC-FDMA uplink control channel symbols toproduce a plurality of modulated sub-carriers; and de-map the pluralityof modulated sub-carriers to produce a plurality of spread symbols,wherein the processor is further configured to time domain de-spread theplurality of spread symbols to produce the plurality of code blocks. 18.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein theplurality of SC-FDMA symbols further comprises a plurality of cyclicshifted SC-FDMA symbols, each associated with a respective cyclic shiftdelay.